Hawaiian-Inspired Banana Bread

This past weekend was a whirlwind of music, dance, and lots and lots of love being that I was part of the 8th Annual ‘Āina Fest organized by the nonprofit, HIP Agriculture, that I currently work for here in Hawaii.

Ready for ‘Āina Fest!!

For those not familiar, ‘Āina Fest is an annual fundraiser utilized to raise money to support the HIP Agriculture mission of training future farmers, educating the youth, and engaging with the community through events, classes, lectures and more! I helped with the publicity and marketing and we really had such an amazing turn out. I’m not usually the biggest fan of music fests, but with its intention, the music, the people, and the food, ‘Āina Fest definitely takes the cake.

Speaking of cake (or in this case bread), one thing there’s usually no shortage of on the farm I’m currently living on are bananas. There are at least 100 different varieties of bananas on Hawaii (damn), but the one that I find myself snacking on most often are called apple bananas. Named for the sweet, slightly apple-like flavor, apple bananas are stumpier and thicker than the ones I’m used to eating back home, and have a firm, yet creamy texture, making them perfect for this recipe.

I also recently read about a place on Maui called Road to Hana, where shop after shop sell some of the best banana bread in all of Hawaii. Although I live on the Big Island, I’m about to go all Moana out here and build a boat just to get to these sticky, sweet confections. WHO’S WITH ME? Sorry…got a little excited there.

Anyhow, because I probably won’t be making it out to Maui anytime soon, and because I’ve got lots of bananas over here, I thought why not make my own and see how it turns out. Mine has got lots of macadamia nuts, a dash of cinnamon, a boatload of bananas, and is topped with drizzled honey and shredded coconut. Heck, I might even give those shops over in Maui a run for their money. Okay, maybe not, but I still think you should give this one a try. Go bananas! And let me know what you think. Mahalo!